Dennis Quaid is ready to mark a haunting position in his filmography: Taking part in a serial killer. Starring alongside Annaleigh Ashford, upcoming Paramount+ collection “Pleased Face” follows real-life assassin Keith Jesperson, also called the Pleased Face Killer. Ashford stars as Jesperson’s daughter Melissa Reed AKA Melissa G. Moore, who’s compelled to confront the carnage attributable to her father in the course of the trial of one other alleged killer.
“Keith Jesperson is a serial killer,” Quaid advised IndieWire of his character at Paramount+’s The Lodge in SXSW. “He killed eight girls in 5 years. He was additionally a father to Annaleigh’s character, Melissa, and he or she had a really shut relationship. Then she discovered on the age of 15, when he was caught, that he was a serial killer. How do you reconcile having that loving dad, with this monster, what he did? That’s principally what the present ‘Pleased Face’ is about. That’s what makes it totally different from lots of different crime thrillers on the market.”
“I play Melissa, who’s a fictionalized model of Melissa Moore, the daughter of the Pleased Face killer, and in our story, we see her come out as not solely the daughter of her father who is that this serial killer, the Pleased Face assassin, however we additionally see her make this horrific act into one thing good to assist individuals, not simply the victims ,but additionally, the households of the victims.”
As for his or her favourite recollections on set, Ashford mentioned that it “was laughs with our unimaginable crew. We had some fairly heavy subject material to sort out every single day, however we had lots of laughs collectively.” Quaid merely mentioned “all of the jail stuff” with an enormous grin.
Tamera Tomakili, who performs Ivy, shared that hers was when “Annaleigh and I had been driving within the automotive on a wet day down the highway and simply listening to Beyoncé. It’s simply when ‘Cowboy Carter’ got here out, so it was some good instances. James Wolk, who performs Ashford’s husband within the present, additionally revealed his. “In episode three or 4, we do that one scene in a ‘oner,’” he advised IndieWire.
“It’s like a seven minute scene and it was an unbelievable expertise,” he continued. “The director got here in, he’s like, ‘Hey, that is how we’re going to do it. We’re going to knock it out of the park!’ He got here in and simply delivered. I feel it’s going to make for a very cool sequence.”
“Pleased Face” will premiere Thursday, March 20 with two episodes, completely on Paramount+ within the U.S. and worldwide markets the place the service is accessible. Following the premiere, new episodes will drop weekly on Thursdays, with the season finale on Might 1.
Jennifer Cacicio (“Your Honor,” “Shooter”) serves as showrunner for the collection and government produces alongside Robert and Michelle King, Liz Glotzer, Melissa G. Moore, Conal Byrne, Will Pearson, Michael Showalter, and Jordana Mollick. The collection is distributed by Paramount World Content material Distribution. Watch the trailer right here.
Offered in partnership with Paramount+. From the Mountain to Historic Rome, followers can step into Paramount+’s The Lodge at SXSW 2025 to expertise immersive activations impressed by their favourite movies and reveals together with “Gladiator II,” “Yellowjackets,” “Dexter: Authentic Sin,” “1923,” and plenty of extra.